The youthful compositions of Karol Szymanowski presented on the album were created in the years 1899–1905. Most of them were composed in Tymoszówka in Ukraine and during Szymanowski's studies in Warsaw. Harmony lessons from Marek Zawirski, counterpoint and composition lessons from Zygmunt Noskowski supplemented the knowledge that the young composer drew from his in-depth analyzes of the works of great masters. According to popular opinion, the works of Fryderyk Chopin and Alexander Scriabin were a model for the form and texture of the Preludes, Op. 1 and Etudes, Op. 4, the virtuoso pianism of the Variations, Op. 3 and Fantasiaop. 14 referred to the compositions of Johannes Brahms and Franz Liszt, while Szymanowski's harmonic language was shaped in the first period of his career by the music of Ryszard Strauss and Ryszard Wagner. The problem of the influence of other composers on Szymanowski's early work is the subject of all kinds of analyzes and treatises, which wrongly suggests the author's lack of originality. Meanwhile, Szymanowski's early piano opuses are works full of noble, poetic inspiration and spontaneous expression, which ensured them a permanent place in the piano repertoire.

The repertoire of this album, consisting of selected works by Fryderyk Chopin (1810–1849), poses a considerable pianistic challenge. Each of the genres recorded on the album requires the artist to adopt a slightly different perspective about a number of both formal and harmonic and melodic aspects, which are part of the idiomatic and unique specificity of the Chopinesque matter. The repertoire of Magdalena Prejsnar’s album, despite the fact that it features works of one composer, should be considered diverse, which perfectly reflects the richness of the artist’s piano skills.

This double album is the testimony of an encounter between two artists delighted to discover that they hold a number of facets in common with regards to creative approach: a freedom of sound, aesthetic diversity, a unique vision of keyboard writing where the piano is treated more like an orchestra than as a solo instrument, the desire for expressiveness which excludes neither references to Neo-Romanticism nor the use of modern techniques, and finally, a wealth of creative energy as well as a profound desire for artistic collaboration. Despite these similarities, their artistic worlds are singular in their own right. While the music of one is often narrative, at times brutal, yet always striving towards rhythmic and poetic ideal, not unlike a Greek Aed recounting a captivating tale, the other composer uses a language steeped towards the fantastical, mischievously playful and sometimes reeling joyfully in its extraordinary mobility, at once constructed with utmost care while offering the listener a liberating sense of improvisation. They are a generation apart, a factor that could easily divide them or achieve just the opposite, connecting them as the composers choose to enter a dialogue, confronting themselves in their work, resulting in a fruitful collaboration. This approach gives way to a healthy emulation, inspiring creativity and diverting from the often solitary world of the composer.

Parallelisms, parallels – these are the words that define the newest album by violinist Oriana Masternak and pianist Justyna Danczowska. The artists juxtapose Polish music with European music created in similar times: Józef Elsner’s Sonata in F Major and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sonata in G Major KV 301 complement each other in Classical noble simplicity and grace; Karol Szymanowski’s Dance from the Ballet Harnasie completes the subtle and pre-impressionistic Sonate posthume by Maurice Ravel with its sprightly energy, while in Cinq pièces by Aleksander Tansman, the artists prove that his musical language binds many parallel European trends.

The third album of the Ravel Piano Duo from the Polish Kaleidoscope series is entirely devoted to piano dance music written during the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, Fryderyk Chopin is widely recognized as the most brilliant Polish composer creating this type of works. However, adoring and admiring the craft of Chopin’s art, we often forget about many outstanding artists who have undeniable merits in the promotion of both national and foreign dances. That having been said, the present album includes a number of stylistically diverse dance miniatures of respected Polish artists: Moniuszko, Noskowski, Zelenski, Moszkowski, and Friedman.

This new release from Dux presents Violin Concertos by composer Tadeusz Paciokiewicz. Paciokiewicz used to say that “even the best craftsmanship and compositional skills are only a means to achieve the goal of expressing a work”. In every composition by Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz, there is a multiplicity and changeability of moods. The character of his music oscillates between the poles of extreme emotions, using refined nuances. The composer received many awards and distinctions for his pedagogical and artistic activity. Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz wrote the following about his works: “The most characteristic features of my style include, above all, the symbiosis of homophony with polyphony and the use, especially in themes, of all twelve notes of the scale. The use of the full twelve--note scale does not imply, however, any connection with the dodecaphonic technique. I tend to lean towards the atonal style, without sacrificing tonality, which I use quite individually. In my works, I prefer classical forms: sonata, concerto, symphony, rondo, or variations. I also often use baroque forms, such as passacaglia, fugue, or cantata. Emotionality is an inherent feature of my com-positions, without which the music is dead and boring, and boredom is actually the enemy of art.”

2020 is a jubilee year for the Paderewski Center in Kasna Dolna, which gives great reason to release this album. “Reminiscencje” is the story of the institution’s three decades of activity, told by the outstanding Polish artists associated with it. Almost all of the musicians on the album toured in Kasna many times, becoming an integral part of the flagship festivals. Piotr P?awner, Mariusz Patyra, Tomasz Strahl, Robert Morawski and Klaudiusz Baran are not only excellent instrumentalists, but also friends of the Paderewski Center who have always responded with kindness and approval to its artistic ideas - even the breakneck ones. "Reminiscences" is a sentimental journey. As photographs are stuck to a traditional album, here we upload songs that, like musical events, bring back memories and emotions. It's music that plays in our souls. And we want to share this music, because that is what K??na Dolna sounds like.

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Stanislaw Moniuszko, which occurred in 2019, prompted many musicians and concert and festival organizers to promote, in particular, the forgotten works of the Polish Romantic. Performed for the first time on 12 December 1869, the opera The Pariah met with severe criticism during the composer’s lifetime. Almost 50 years later, during Warsaw’s reopening, The Pariah also did not get much sympathy from the audience and reviewers. This album, including a concert recording made during this year’s Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, is a great opportunity to get acquainted with this little-known work.

For years, Urszula Bartkiewicz, an outstanding Polish harpsichordist, has been conducting in-depth research on Polish music of the 17th and 18th centuries, specializing in searching, developing and making it available to the contemporary audience. This passion resulted in subsequent albums with Polish harpsichord music (DUX 0630, 0613). The program of the album presents polonaise- like musical forms for keyboard instruments, originating from manuscript and old print collections from the turn of the 19th century – kept in the Library of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun and not found in any other Polish book collection. Their authors are little-known or completely forgotten Polish composers: Bazyli Bohdanowicz, J. Heilinski, Stefan Jablonski, Aleksander Rodowski and Józef Kozlowski. The scores of the polonaises included on the album were published in December 2019 by the publishing house of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. The album Polonaises is not only an interesting testimony of the musical culture during the time of Poland’s partition; it is also a phonographic premiere of many great music miniatures, co-creating an atmosphere in which, on the one hand, Oginski’s compositions were gaining popularity, on the other – Fryderyk Chopin’s taste and sensitivity were taking shape.

POLISH CHRISTMAS CAROLS

Tears, that visible attribute of sadness, can, paradoxically, be a form of purification, a dam against despair. Sadness caused by an individual or collective experience of evil, transformed into a Christian hope for the fate altering, sometimes evokes creative thought, allows to enclose the experience within a form of artistic message. For Christians, the deepest, traumatic, experience of evil is Christ’s crucifixion. Perceived as a drama of the whole humanity, redeemed for future salvation and victory of good, it has found a special form in works of art created throughout centuries: paintings, musical pieces, poetry. Passion and Stabat Mater are canonical musical forms related to the drama of Golgotha. The latter introduces Christ’s co-suffering Mother into the scope of His drama. Numerous composers wrote music to the 13th-century sequence, the authorship of which is attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi. They were creating their own visions of a mother’s suffering, in which, over time, people began to perceive the drama of all mothers who weep their children. Przez ?zy (Tearfully) – such is the title of an album including pieces which are important not only due to their artistic merits. The content of each work touches upon matters fundamental for every human being, but also for the fate of a nation plagued by defeats, yet unceasingly rising from each one. That struggle often finds company in art and the beauty it contains, which in turn, to quote Norwid, is the shape of love.

The 100th anniversary of regaining independence is a great opportunity to familiarize music lovers with works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski. This talented composer and world-famous pianist, thanks to many patriotic initiatives, often drew attention to the importance of independent Poland for Europe. This release from Radoslaw Sobaczak, who won a honorable mention at the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in 2000, is entirely devoted to the profile of the Polish artist. The album’s programme consists of a series of small pieces including the famous Minuet, Op. 14 No. 1, and the monumental three-movement Piano Sonata in E flat minor, Op. 21. Only a few artists can boast of recording this extremely difficult composition, and Sobaczak does it with aplomb.

The Wiesław Prządka Quinteto Tango Nuevo is an ensemble created by the most outstanding Polish bandoneon player, fascinated by the music and the figure of Astor Piazzolla. Compositions of the Argentinian virtuoso combine elements of classical and contemporary music as well as of jazz and tango. Piazzolla would always select the best performers from various musical communities to collaborate. The creation of Wiesław Prządka’s ensemble was based on the above rule, where the violin is played by the concertmaster of the Poznań Philharmonic, Marcin Suszycki, and the piano by Rafał Karasiewicz, a versatile pianist specializing in theatre music, jazz and blues; Marek Piątek is a guitarist who feels at ease in almost all musical genres, but loves Brazilian samba and bossa nova the most, while the double bass player Zbigniew Wrombel is a living legend of Polish jazz. The present album is the first production of Wiesław Prządka Quinteto Tango Nuevo. It is released in 2021 – the year we are celebrating the centenary of the Argentinian master’s birthday.

"Violinist Dominika Przech and pianist Adam Mikolaj Gozdziewski present a repertoire of Polish music created throughout the 20th century, extremely ambitious in terms of performance and interpretation. All works presented on the CD refer to the output of Karol Szymanowski, whose early Sonata in D minor, op. 9 opens the album. Original references to Szymanowski’s music in the works of Pawel Klecki and Zbigniew Bargielski are perceptible on the purely musical level, especially when one is aware of the artistic development path and inspiration of both artists. The thread connecting Bargielski with Szymanowski goes back to his teenage years and his studies under the supervision of the following composers: Piotr Perkowski, Tadeusz Szeligowski, Boleslaw Szabelski and Nadia Boulanger, two of whom were Szymanowski’s students, one was his friend and Nadia Boulanger was the person to whom Szymanowski directed his students for further education. “Testimony of his [Szymanowski’s] students, who were my teachers, embellished my ideas and intuitions” – the composer himself admits. A well-thought-out, mature interpretation of the presented works reveals not only their affinity in terms of form, emotionality or motivic phrases, but also emphasizes the individual details of all these elements."

The Double Concerto for Viola and Cello was written in 2012 to mark the bicentenary of the Musikverein in Vienna. It is a work with a clearly defined, neo-romantic architecture. Even though the composer employs profuse semi-tones as a form-shaping element, the music also abounds in consonances that soften the many tensions therein. The narration’s starting point is determined by the opening cantabile for the two solo instruments, which is of a romantic character. As the music proceeds, the two architectural planes start to be mutually interwoven, with a free dialogue between them lasting until the end of the piece. It is worth drawing the listener’s attention to the highly inventive solo cadenzas that are introduced by the composer in order to differentiate the mood of the work’s various sections. The version for accordion and orchestra which is featured in the present recording casts a fresh light on the composition. All the contrasts that are responsible for the structural fragmentation unexpectedly gain even sharper contours. Moreover, all the solo interludes, in view of the distinctly different character of the accordion, make the polemics between the neo-romantic and playful aesthetics even more exciting. Concerto per flauto ed orchestra da camera was written in 1992. Commissioned by L’Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, it was dedicated to flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal. The work falls into two extensive movements: Andante and Allegro con brio. Lyrical fragments of a somewhat impressionistic provenance predominate in the first movement. In contrast to the Double Concerto for Viola and Cello, this work is notable for its highly autonomous solo part, which on the one hand constitutes an intriguing counterpoint with the orchestral interludes, while on the other being very much to the forefront. Brief but strongly chromaticised melodic motifs are an important element that shapes the architecture of the first movement.